Office indicator



Will Retuin Feb. 8,1927.

6 o. G. GERNER OFFICE IANDICATOR Original Filed' Aug. 29. 1925 m1; BROWN- F i Mr Brown maybe dehyed I.

buft expecb to belmck as near Mme 'lhdifllted as possible.

NeXQ; Please l mam" museqyow;

Please Step 11' f" Mr B-rovm'is bus; @114 will:

'wai'h on you. div-est! Please. be seli ea ecial fl p poihtment P B Bequest 0H G6 Gem let theater for use in" bnsinessiof iiees, and more particularly of advantage-1n, the waitni'g Waiting room attendant or ushe 7 and, audible indicating devices to {thereby Feb. i

new hee ie ""This invention h'as j're'ference toVan -ine rooms of doctors; lawyers and denti sts, {and has i for i; its obj eat} i broa dlyii'jto provide anindicator adapte'd to be nsed' asl'a 'substi tute for and to avoid the eikpense :of 1 a 'Ihe invention includes acasr g provided ivith announcement platesah diother visible facilitatetheftransaction of business when plae ed inithe' Waiting'room the proprietor H being remote; therefrom r 'lhej invention c onslsts of the novel and useful construction," dombination and farrangementof parts as described herelnfand :laimed and as illustrated in} the accompanying drawing, l'tbeing Understood; that changes lIi-"fbrmi size proportion and r'minor details may be made as foiind tote {oiad- Vantage, isaid changes being determined by the; scope of "tl1e inventi ixas; claimedi-r Inflthe drawings,

tion. Fig; 2*is -a view of} the satne'in [Referring now-t0 the 'dravving fora more; part cular descriptlonfilprovide a eas ng 1; which, for the "mostf'partfls 0pen= atitsv frOnt'.- Numeral 2 indicat'es the name-plate of the proprietor, said plate being secured in 'a stationary position near thetop 'o ifthe casingthe front thereofand-"preferably: opening on'thetop ofthe casing below th'e or cover 37and {rearwardly; of the na m'e' -plate are slots 3 and-4adapted toreeei'veanwhen leaving his office mayunove' thehands of the-dial 6 of the plate 3' to indicate the hour of his expected-return; I In additionto the dialpthis plate bears 'the wordsfw'illf return;and since this plate is 'dispo'sed in' the slot "3, at the front, -;it may beseeh by anyjelientor clients l who may visit this room nounc mentpl tes 3"a"nd 4" which a re 'p'r'ovidedwith handles 5.- Y

"The plates'fthiis mentioned inav 'be 'con-' strncted of anysuitable 1na'terial,-and the plates 3 and 4 are arrangedto l ef1nte1flv changed, gthat is t0 say,'.the proprietor,

in his absence. a

' Upon returning to his ofiice, the proprie tonjinayf-reniove' the ,"piatie'zirem' a andm'ayfp'lace the announcement plate in the slot 3, the: plate; 3". being inserted'in the slot fl..-.'*The plate14visx usediin' Combiaati'oni with the nameplate QY-a'nd bears the heated upright ,slots 7, thesewbeing formed n K the sides of the'easin'g'; each -slot' 17 havingian iuppeii 'recess' S aiid' a lowenreeess 1 opening thereonl L'At 10*is indieatedaaiob eeuringplate provided atflit'sy ends; {with 7 handles]11,; aiid-"this'plate; by use of the. v, handles which may be ldisposed-inythe slots} 7 and projectontwardlyofjthe sides of the casing, may have sliding 'inovementsnp "vvardly'n'or. downwardly, and the.handles may enter either pair ofereeesses 8 v0r 9, defining theflupperilovver position for said plate. 'A

"lamp' lg'fis" provided inthe'ea's ing' and: is v disposed} in planes midway. 'betw'e en and *At 13 is; indicatedla transparent ans l noun'cem'ent plate bearing the Werds- Mr. Brown may: bedelayed lout-exp'ects toqbe H back as near time indicated ast possible.,this 'pla'tejbeing"stationary in the casing 'nearthefront/of the.r.rece ss'8;i and ati'l l is ,indi-f .cjated 'a' transparent announee'lnent plate 'Whichis stationary in th ecasing atfornearthe front of the 'reeess9, bea1ing"the words "Mr; Brown Will see -you. Please step'in, e

Numerals 15-1" indieate transli'ieent -j 'plates .Is in,'.please:,ring{and the tproprie- I tor nayi theni leave "the lwai ting room and r ent'erlnsrpr vateroflice. Below "the parts lastkmentioned' are :in-

which are disposedxajt the'ironti-of the 'plates i,

Band-14' and'which noi'mally 'obscure from:

viex vathelettering on' the transparent plates 1 13 and'-14l,"but permitrthe lettering on said plates toibe seen while.the llamp 12 is' il-' ll'iminatedand, asfis obvious, the plate 'inay'be' shifted tonpreventing rays otlight 1 fro1n=thelainp 12-t01be directed to o'ne' of the plates 13;o1r=1t, theothe'r plate being. f

exposed te the light from said} l-a1 1p.'

2;:Nun1era?l" l-16indicatesa, t' 'simrent 31k 1mneemene plate ibeen in; tnee siwirds Mr Bro'wiiis busy and will fWait on" you directly.1 Please-be seated' j'lhisplate isfdisposed station'ary in the casing andimay be illuminated by a l'amp 18, a translucent. v plate"lT'beingdisposed at the trontjof the plate l'6 sojthat the words thereon will not I be jvisible'exeept when the lamp18 is il- 1 laminatedg andwhenthis platexis in. :'use t this plate may beremovethif desired,'and

7 other announcement plates may be substitute'd therefor andl may change. the words on the plates'13, 1 1 and 16, and do not wish to be limited in this respect;

At 24c is indicated an electrical alarm ele ment or buzzer adapted to be actuated by the proprietor "while in his private office, and

electrically connected therewith are signal elements or incandescent lamps 25, these 1 preferably being mounted. upon-the sides or the casing and in operation, the push-button 27 maybe used by the proprietor to cause illumination of lamp 12 and actuation of the buzzer 24 and illumination of the lamps 25 coincident therewith to attract attention of 'clients-i'n the waiting room to one of the announcement plates 13" orl l, and the pro 1rieto1 may terminate electrical actuation. Alsorby -useof'push-button 28 the oper- 7 ator may cause coincident illumination of f thelz'nnps 18" and 25 :and actuation of the buzzerl24t', thereby cal-ling attention to, the

7 words of announcement of the plate 16, and

mayterminate the same. this announcement 7 plate 16 being used by the proprietor while inhis'priv ateotiice and does not wish to be interrupted or, perhaps, while otherwise en-, gaged, a v As described,-.operjation will be readly understood. It will be seen that a proprietor, may depend upon the indicator as a substitute for awaitingeroom,attendant and may remain,for the most part, in his private ofice. The indicatormaylannounce to a client entering the waiting room that :the

proprietor is in. The client may, by use of thepuslrbutton 19,c'a use actuation of-the buzzer 20, and being disengaged, the pro prietor byuse of'the push-button 27 may actuate the buzzer 24 and illuminate the lamps 12 .and' 25, the obscuring-plate being in its upper position so that only the iwords on the plate 1 1 may be seen, inviting client into the private office; and thereafter, ifother clients enter the waiting room or cause actuation of the buzzer While he is engaged, the proprietor, by use of the pushbutton 28 may give informationthat' he is busy and requesting vthe client or 'clientsto bes'eated, and as soon as disengaged-may invite another client, to enterhis private oiiice, using the push button 27 V fort-this purpose,'-the illumination ofthe lamp. 12 per- 7 The lettering on plate 13 may be arranged to be visible to suit emergency cases, and of course is not used so often as the plate 14.

It will be appreciated that the electrical buzzer 24 and; lamps are important in operation since these signals call attention I to the announcement plates 13, Hand 16. Any suitable electrical connection may be made for operating the buzzer 2t'and incana descent lamps toetiect a desirable result, and any source of electrical energy, may be emfor this purpose. 5 I

Numeral'36 (Fig. 2) indicates an electrical conductor in communication with the electrical conductors 33, 32 and 35. V a

As best shown in Fig. 5, the buzzer 20may be actuated by control ofthe switch 19since the j electrical conductor 29 communicates with one pole ofthe battery, and an electrical conductor 30 communicates with the opposite pole. 1 V I 1 Also the switch 27 may be closed 110 00 111? plete an electrical circuit for coincidentactuation of ithebuzzer 2i and illumination of the lamps 12' and 25, the electrical conductors 32, 29 and'31 being in communication with ployed, anelectrical battery 26 being shown I one pole of the battery, and the electrical will be established for coincident" actuation V of the buzzer 241 and illumination of the lamps 18 and 25, the electrical conductors 35,

29, 31 and '33 being in communication with one pole, and the electrical conductors 3 1 and 30 being in electrical communication with the oppositerpoleiof theelectrical battery.

In order that operation may be effective,

the casing, preferably is of rectangular form in plan andcross-section, and certain par= tltions are used to provlde compartments 3 8 and 39-therein, for controllingdirectionsof an upperand a lower recess opening on each slot, announcement-p121tes stationary with in the casing at the front .of said recesses; an

incandescent lamp for illuminating said plates, and an obscuring-plate in the casing havin handles traversin the slots .and

adapted to be moved for disposing its han-I dies in selected recesses of the slots to presignature. 7

' OTTO-G. GERNERJ 

